By Ashley Fountain

 Non-profit organization Hofstra Paw Pals, founded by sophomore Renee Giglio and freshman Katie Sestak, recently became inactive due to lack of transportation.

“Starting out, Hofstra Paw Pals had about 10-15 volunteers and it was a lot of fun, but I was the only one that had a car,” said Giglio. “There is an SGA van that we are allowed to use but it can only be driven by a 21 year old driver with a NY driver’s license. So we were left in a bad situation this semester.”

It is a known fact that many shelters are crammed and have little funding to provide adequate care to its animals. Hofstra paw Pals longed to stay true to their mission by helping improve the lives of animals in local animal shelters.  Hofstra Paw Pals set a goal to visit a local animal shelter once a week and hold frequent fundraisers. The organization is hopeful that new members will join. If more transportation can be provided members can get back to doing what they love; helping animals in need.

            During the fall semester, Hofstra Paw Pals was dedicated to helping their furry friends and visited the Freeport Animal Shelter every Friday from 3 to 5 p.m. “The shelter is in need of many things and they love volunteers. Paw Pals would love to have more people join our club. While we would love to have as many volunteer as possible, we are limited to the number of people that can go because of car limitations,” said Sestak. “We are hoping to find a 21-year-old who would be able to volunteer weekly so that we can have access to one of the Hofstra vans. In the future we hope to hold many fundraisers. One of the big fundraisers we are hoping to hold in the future is bringing puppies to campus and having students make donations in order to play with them. Who doesn’t miss their dog while they are away at school?!”

If anyone is interested in learning more about Hofstra Paw Pals, and is interested in joining, Renee and Katie can be reached [email protected].  

(Julie Skrobak)